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Recon Leopard
Not to be confused with the International Inc Leopard LAV. "They're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us... they can't get away this time!" :- Lieutenant General Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, famous Recon Peacekeeper (when surrounded by 8 enemy battalions) Tactical Analysis * Looks can be Deceiving: At first glance, the Recon Leopard may not seem like much of a threat. However, deceptively thin yet tough armour, a deadly armament and an equally deadly crew all make the Recon Leopard a formidable counter defying opponent. * Counter-Defying: The Recon Leopard's Gatling gun will mulch infantry, while its TOW missile launcher can do significant damage to tanks. And when the going gets tough, the Recon Peacekeepers inside can dismount and bring their own deadly weapons to bear. * Human Operation Required: The Recon Leopard lacks a dedicated crew, meaning it is manned by the Recon Peacekeepers within. When they dismount for combat, the Leopard is inoperable until they return, leaving it vulnerable to attack. * Solid as a Rock: Squads who find themselves driving into the most trouble have their Recon Leopards modified with advanced tank-grade composite armour, allowing them to shrug off autocannon rounds while retaining survivability against anti-tank weapons. Background Recon Peacekeepers are known for two things; their caffeine addiction, and their turbocharged, heavily armed, overloaded battle cars. They are known for charging straight at enemy lines with little more than 1/4" steel plating for protection against the enemy. All this worked out perfectly well, until 2nd Recon's C Company drove headlong into a column of Soviet tanks, resulting in a very one-sided fire fight that caused 100% casualties on the side of the Allies. Since that disastrous engagement, Allied Command ordered the scrapping of all Recon Rangers in favour of something a "little" more hardy. Naturally, there was a general outcry from the Recon Peacekeeper population, who didn't want to give up their tried and trusted Recon Rangers. The disorder continued for two whole months, with entire Recon battalions refusing to operate and conduct training exercises. However, there was still no response from Allied Command. Then, in April 1969, they unveiled the Recon Leopard, and everyone fell silent. Designed from the ground up to be the most powerful light vehicle for the next 10 years, the Leopard had it all. 1" thick Chobham composite plating, self-inflating tires, a quad-core high performance hybrid engine, a MX-19/GAU-50 minigun, double the carrying capacity of the Ranger and the most eye-catching piece of the lot, a shiny BGM-68 TOW anti-tank missile launcher. Compared to other Allied vehicles like the Ranger Battle Car, the Recon Leopard is a completely different beast. A pair of them could level an infantry charge with a wall of lead, or destroy entire tank platoons by simply outrunning their slow turret traverse speed and emptying their TOW missiles into the vulnerable rear armour, and even if the turrets of the tanks caught up, the tough Chobham armour gave the Leopard survivability that nearly matches IFVs. Although it lacks any AA weaponry, its speed enables it to get away from most airborne pursuers, such as helicopters like Twinblades and Striker-VXs. It also harbours a high power, encrypted radio transmitter that has an effective range of 500 km, more than enough to reach the nearest Athena satellite and get their information back to base, wherever in the world they may be. Needless to say, the Recon Peacekeepers were absolutely delighted with their shiny new toys. In the first week of operation in Vietnam, the initial batch of 12 Leopards scored an unprecedented 30 enemy armour kills, including an entire company of Rhino tanks. Allied Command immediately stepped up Recon Leopard production, and there are now currently 195 Recon Leopards in service today - one for every squad. However, sometimes the Peacekeepers have to leave the Recon Leopard behind to carry out intelligence gathering in sensitive areas. Standard practice dictates that they leave the doors open to enable a quick escape. Unfortunately, this has the undesired side effect of making the Leopard easy to destroy, as the enemy can simply fire into the open doors. Even so, everyone, including the Recon Peacekeepers themselves, agree that their lives - and the intelligence they carry - is worth more than a car, no matter how modified it is. Category:Units